PRIVACY OF STUDENT DATA
CROTON-HARMON SCHOOLS:
COMMUNIT Y FORUM
O C TO B E R 2 2 , 2 013
THIS INFORMATION IS CONSTANTLY CHANGING
• In the spirit of transparency, we offer some
answers to questions that have been posed.
• It is our intent to keep this dialogue going as
more information becomes known as we
navigate through the changing State
requirements.
STUDENT RECORDS REGULATION: BOARD OF
EDUCATION POLICY 5500 (REVISED MARCH 14 2013)
FERPA- The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act- Provides parents
and children over 18 years of age “the right to consent to disclosures of
personally identifiable information contained in a student’s education
records.”
Student Directory Information- the school district may release the following
information without parental/student consent: name, address,
telephone number, date of birth, major course of study, participation in
school activities or sports, weight and height if a member of an athletic
team, dates of attendance, grade level, degrees and awards received,
most recent school attended, class schedule, photograph, email
address and enrollment status.
STUDENT RECORDS REGULATION: BOARD OF EDUCATION
POLICY 5500 (REVISED MARCH 14 2013)
Parent option- you may object to the release of all of this
“directory information,” however, you must do so in
writing within 14 days of receiving notice from the
school district.
WHO TYPICALLY REQUESTS STUDENT
DIRECTORY INFORMATION?
Not for Profits (PTAs, The Rotary Club are examples).
The Police
What are the results of “opting out”?
Student directory information will not be shared with such
organizations
If I have questions about student directory information, who
do I ask?
Your child’s principal
WHAT IS THE BOE’S POSITION ON THE PRIVACY OF
STUDENT DATA?
•
The Croton-Harmon Board of Education believes in the privacy of student data.
•
Because New York State has received Race to the Top money, it has asked
districts to select a “data dashboard” that will allow administrators, teachers,
parents and students to have their own level of access to student data.
• The data are stored in inBloom. This was determined by the State Education
Department.
•
Because of this SED decision, the Croton-Harmon Board of Education no
longer wants to participate in Race to the Top.
•
The Board does not support using inBloom to store student data.
WHAT DATA ARE WE REQUIRED TO SEND TO NYSED?
• Demographic Data*
• Enrollment
(Entry/Exit)*
• Program Fact eSD*
• Program Fact IEP*
• NYS Assessment 3-8*
• NYS Regents*
• Course Titles
• BEDS Enrollment Data
• Special Education EOY
Snapshot*
• Special Education
Events Extract*
• Marking Period Dates
• Staff/Student/Course
Data*
• Violent & Disruptive
Incident Reporting
• Dignity for All Students
Act Data
* Student information is part of these data, using a “unique student identifier”
FUTURE REPORTING MAY INCLUDE….
• Discipline data including the infraction and student –
specific information. At this point we have not
received specific NYSED guidance.
• Additional extracts from the data base that are
student-specific?????
IS THE DISTRICT ALLOWED TO WITHHOLD STUDENT
DATA FROM THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT?
No. There are exceptions to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
(FERPA) that permit school districts to disclose such information to
certain parties and/or under certain conditions without prior written
consent.
As a state agency, SED has the right to collect data to “develop tests,
administer student aid, or improve instruction.”
Pursuant to Education Law Section 305, the Commissioner of Education
has a general supervisory authority over all schools that are covered
under the Education Law. As such, unless an order of the
Commissioner is arbitrary and capricious, the Board of Education will
likely be found to be required to adhere to the Commissioner’s orders.
WHAT HAPPENS TO THE DATA?
•
The State Education Department has a contract with InBloom.
InBloom is a Gates-Foundation-funded initiative to build a new data
infrastructure for public schools.
•
InBloom states it will streamline schools’ handling of data and provide
more access to student data to companies that will build tools to
“enhance personalized learning.”
•
How long will students’ data be stored ? The InBloom service is able
to store multiple years of data. States will choose how long the data
will be stored.
•
It is our understanding based on the information communicated to
superintendents, that student data will flow from SED to InBloom
whether or not a district participates in Race to the Top.
WHAT HAPPENS TO THE DATA (CONTINUED)
What data are being collected by InBloom that is different than
states are currently collecting?
States and districts will store the same data with inBloom that they were
previously collecting and storing in other places. Districts will control
who sees what information and for what purposes.
•
•
Are these data secure?
InBloom and the State Education Department claims InBloom is more
secure than any of the systems school districts currently use to store
student data. Ken Wagner, SED’s Associate Commissioner of the Office
of Curriculum, Assessment and Educational Technology, states that
currently “There are no standard protocols to ensure data security and
privacy.”
CAN A PARENT “OPT OUT” OF THEIR CHILD’S
DATA GOING TO SED?
No. All data in our system must be sent to SED.
Can a parent “opt out” of the NYS testing program, which
is the source of much of the data?
Parents control student participation, not the school
district.
WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT
PARTICIPATING IN THE STATE TESTING PROGRAM?
• At present, we are not aware of any consequences for
students in grades 3-8.
• At the high school level, students must pass five
Regents in order to graduate.
• It is our understanding that the District must maintain
a 95% participation rate in all state assessments
grades 3-12 or face losing some of its state aid.
WHAT CAN PARENTS DO WHO OBJECT TO THE SHARING OF
STUDENT DATA WITH THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT?
•
Contact your legislators. Legislative
action is the only way to limit the power of
the State Education Department
regarding student data collection.
HERE ARE THE SPECIFICS:
•
•
Two bills passed the New York State Assembly that would block
student data sharing without consent, or allow for parental opt out,
have been introduced in the NY State Senate by State Senators
Martins (S.5930) and Robach (S.5932).
Contact our State Senator Greg Ball. His District Office is 1441
Route 22 Suite 205, Brewster, NY 10509. Phone 845-279-7156
•
Contact the sponsor of S.5930, State Senator Jack Martins. His
District Office is 151 Herricks Road, Suite 202, Garden City Park, NY
11040. Phone 515-746-5924
•
Contact the sponsor of S.5932, State Senator Joseph Robach. His
District Office is 2300 W. Ridge Road, Rochester, NY 14616. Phone
585-225-3650
THE DATA DASHBOARD REQUIREMENT
• Those districts that have accepted Race to the Top monies are
required to select a “data dashboard” from one of three vendors
identified by SED by October 31, 2013.
• Croton received $5,180 in 2011-12 and $1,729 in 2012-13.
• Because of the direction SED is going regarding sending student
data to InBloom, the Board of Education no longer wants to
participate in Race to the Top and does not want to select a data
dashboard. We would prefer to further develop our own data
dashboard, based on our own data.
• It is important to note that SED will send our student data to
InBloom regardless of whether we select a state-mandated data
dashboard.
ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS:
• What will the data be used for?
According to InBloom, to build tools to enhance personal learning.
• Will parents be able to view student data for accuracy?
Parents can contact the district regarding accuracy of student data.
• Who is responsible for the accuracy of the data?
The school district.
• Will the data be personally identifiable?
At present, unique student identifiers are used (numbers; not social
security number)
THANK YOU!